'He loved to laugh': Community remembers George Copeland

As a rookie firefighter in the late 90s, incoming Windsor Fire Chief Jamie Waffle remembers George Copeland with reverence.

“He was always great to work with. Always had a positive side to him,” Waffle said of Copeland. They worked together at Station 4 across from the University of Windsor’s Human Kinetics building.

“He loved to laugh, and he couldn't keep a straight face very long,” Waffle said describing Copeland's spirited nature.

Copeland passed away over the weekend from complications from a line of duty accident.

“He was my little brother, but he was also my right hand. You know, we were partners. We did everything together. He calls, I go, I call, he comes,” said older brother Conroy Copeland.

There has been a large outpouring of love since the news broke.

“It's a demonstration of how much he was loved and how much she affected and touched people because it's just been nonstop condolences coming from everywhere,” Conroy said.

Copeland was known around the local sports scene and had a competitive nature, which Conroy said was born from growing up in a family of eight.

“Everything we did together, somebody had to win,” Copeland explained. “When you come from a big family, last is never a good place to be.”

George was a gifted athlete who played many sports, including basketball, a game Conroy taught his little brother at Glengarry Park.

“That's where his basketball training started. I was his mentor,” Conroy said while breaking out in laughter.

Copeland took his ability to another level at J.L. Forster Secondary School at a time when high school basketball wasn’t impacted by travel ball.

“He was incredibly strong, could never get the ball off him,” F.J. Brennan Catholic High School graduate Jim Kennedy remarked. “He was the leader of the pack for the Forster Spartans and they always had that edge. It was the west-end boys, if you want to call it that, and George wore that with a badge of honor.”

Copeland went on to star at St. Clair College and would get inducted into the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Hall of Fame.

Life led Copeland to be a proud Windsor firefighter.

In 2007, he was involved in a rollover crash that changed the seatbelt rules on firetrucks across the country.

The crash changed his life but did not ruin his spirit.

“Never seen him sad about his situation,” said Conroy. “Never seen him, never heard him complain. And I've often said to myself, ‘I don't know if I could do this,’ you know, but he did it without any issues. So he's a warrior.”

Waffle agreed, “Always came out to events, whether it was the benefit events, the chili fest, the banquets, the retirement parties, he didn't stay a stranger to us.”

In fact, many stayed in touch with him and visited him regularly. Copeland didn’t disengage either.

“I would have to say there were dark days. We never saw them,” Kennedy told CTV News. “He was just such an absolute gentleman and just stalwart and I don't know if I could ever live up to that quality that he gave back to us.”

Visitation is Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Windsor Chapel on Banwell Road.

There will also be visitation Friday at 10 a.m. at Victoria Greenlawn on Highway 3 in Oldcastle with a funeral service to follow at 11 a.m.